Skyla Sisco, who starred for the Montana Lady Griz as an All-Big Sky player on coach Robin Selvig's standout teams of the 1990s, passed away last Thursday after a long cancer battle.
Sisco's family announced her passing Wednesday. She was 50.
Sisco was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. A more advanced form of the cancer returned in 2021.
"Just being present," Sisco told MTN Sports in early 2023 of her mental approach to fighting the disease. "Trying not to live in the past or be anxious about the future because that just does not do anybody any good.
"It's like shooting a free throw. Your whole career you're told you never tell yourself, 'Don't miss, don't miss,' right? You're planting that seed of miss. Instead you're like, 'I'm going to drain this free throw.' And that's the mentality I'm taking. I'm going to beat it. I'm going to, and so I'm going to plan my future as I'm beating it."
Sisco played point guard for the Lady Griz during a highly successful run for the program from 1994-98 under coach Robin Selvig, a stretch in which the team went 99-22 overall and 56-4 in Big Sky Conference games.
During that four-year period, Montana captured four league championships and advanced to four NCAA tournaments. In 1995, the Lady Griz defeated No. 5 seed San Diego State to advance to the second round.
Sisco was named Big Sky MVP in 1998 and was an honorable mention All-American. She was the program's first four-time all-conference selection and one of only five players to earn that distinction by the time she entered Montana's athletic hall of fame in 2021.
Sisco was one of many standout women's basketball players to follow the Hi-Line pipeline from Malta to Montana. In high school, playing under legendary coach Del Fried, Sisco helped the M-Ettes to the Class B state championship in 1991 and a second-place finish the following year.
She was also a three-time state high jump champion and an all-state volleyball player. She was inducted into the Montana High School Association Athletes Hall of Fame in 2001.
In Missoula after her basketball playing days, Sisco was involved heavily with the city's ultimate Frisbee club scene as well as playing club hockey. She was a local business owner with Pangea and Stave & Hoop.
Sisco played in 114 games at Montana and finished with 1,238 career points. She totaled 587 career assists, third all-time at UM, and her 235 steals are fourth-most in program history.
In 2013, Sisco was recognized on the Big Sky Conference’s “25 Greatest Female Athletes” list at No. 18.
"I still think that Skyla could play at the college level and start and be a dominant force," Megan Harrington, a teammate of Sisco's with the Lady Griz, told MTN Sports in 2017.
"Her reflexes, her athleticism and her determination, her ability to compete. It didn’t matter who she was up against, my money would be on her. She was just a competitor and a leader."
A celebration of life is planned for Dec. 15 at the Adams Center in Missoula.
